Educator Archives - Andy May Music

Register for Acoustic Kids, Walnut Valley Festival

Perform on-stage at the Walnut Valley Festival! Musicians aged 16 or younger of all skill levels are encouraged to participate. You don’t have to be an advanced player to be an Acoustic Kid… but you can be! Questions? Problems? Please let us know using our Contact form.

Room for Roots Tour in Sweden

We arrived in Stockholm on Monday, October 3. On Tuesday, Lauren and I took the subway across town to find Izzy Young at Folklore Centrum. Folks were friendly and pointed us in the right direction to find Wallmar Yx Kullsgatan 2bv. When we arrived, I looked through the big, glass, street-level store window, and there was Izzy – now in his late 80s, but very much the same as ever. I had not seen him in 46 years! ⇨ Read more

Photos: Kenny Malone and Andy May at the Country Music Hall of Fame

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Country Music Hall of Fame-Kenny Malone and Andy May

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Nashville, TN. September 11, 2016. Instrument demonstration: Djembe and Guitar. Kenny and Andy played several selections from Andy’s CD Room for Roots (on which Kenny played) and took questions from the audience in this informal workshop. Kenny’s drums were tuned to E, G, A, B, and C, and he demonstrated playing melodies and harmonies on them using both muffled and unmuffled tones. Then… ⇨ Read more

Boulder Weekly News: “The never nervous, always prodigious Acoustic Kids”

By Mariah Taylor, Boulder Weekly, August 18, 2016

Read on the Boulder Weekly site ◊ PDF

Andy May is a soft-spoken man who calls children “youngsters” and adults “folks.” His talent as a musician and teacher is undisputed, but he’s likely best known as the founder of the Acoustic Kids Showcase. The showcase is a non-competitive “Opry-style” performance program that allows musicians [16] and younger to perform on professional stages at festivals around the country.

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1995 Video of Nickel Creek in Acoustic Kids

This video is of a very young Nickel Creek in 1995 performing in Acoustic Kids at the Walnut Valley Festival. Joining Chris Thile (mandolin), Sara Watkins (fiddle) and Sean Watkins (guitar) is Chris’ dad, Scott, on bass.

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Nickel Creek in Acoustic Kids - Walnut Valley Festival - 1995

Sara Watkins: Andy May’s Acoustic Kids

Andy has a remarkable ability to make kids feel welcomed and valued as a person and musical contributors. I’m so glad Acoustic Kids has stayed involved in the community, because not only does it give all these kids good memories, but as they grow up, they’ll remember that their contribution is important. – Sara Watkins (Website) ⇨ Read more

Chris Thile of Nickle Creek in Acoustic Kids Showcase

Flashback! 1993 Article – First Year for Nickel Creek in Acoustic Kids

Links: View/print PDF • 1995 video of Nickel Creek in Acoustic Kids

We recently uncovered this gem in our archives! 1993 was was the first of several years that Nickel Creek (Chris Thile, Sean Watkins, Sara Watkins, and, then, Scott Thile on bass) was a part of the showcases. This article was written by Andy for the “Walnut Valley Occasional,” the festival newspaper.

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